Official Notification of 2000 Accountability Ratings

2000 EXPLANATION OF RATINGS AND COMMENTS

Accountability Ratings

EXEMPLARY These districts and campuses met the Exemplary level performance standards for all base indicators. Exemplary districts and campuses are entitled to excellence exemptions identified in state statute. All campuses in Exemplary districts must be rated Acceptable or higher.

RECOGNIZED These districts and campuses met the Recognized level performance standards for all base indicators. All campuses in Recognized districts must be rated Acceptable or higher.

ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE / ACCEPTABLE These districts and campuses exceeded the performance standards for Academically Unacceptable / Low-performing, but did not meet Exemplary or Recognized standards. Districts that met the standards for Exemplary or Recognized but (1) have one or more Low Performing campuses or (2) exceeded the threshold for under-reported school leavers, have been rated Academically Acceptable.

ACADEMICALLY UNACCEPTABLE / LOW PERFORMING These districts and campuses did not meet the performance standards for an Academically Acceptable / Acceptable rating. State-level sanctions and interventions will be invoked for these districts and campuses. The Texas Education Agency will determine the level of sanction or intervention.

ACADEMICALLY UNACCEPTABLE: SAI These districts have been designated as Academically Unacceptable due to a Special Accreditation Investigation. Special Accreditation Investigations may be conducted when excessive numbers of absences or exemptions of students eligible to be tested on state assessment instruments are determined; in response to complaints related to alleged violations of civil rights or other legal requirements; in response to compliance reviews of financial accounting practices and state and federal program requirements; when extraordinary numbers of students are placed in alternative education programs; and in response to allegations involving conflict between members of the board of trustees or between the board and the district administration.

SUSPENDED: DATA INQUIRY These districts and campuses have their ratings Suspended due to serious errors in the reporting of PEIMS or TAAS data that affect one or more of the base indicators used for assigning accountability ratings. The errors are of such magnitude that the performance results are deemed to be unsuitable for evaluation for standard ratings purposes. The rating will be in effect until such time as an agency investigation determines otherwise.

CHARTER AND NR: CHARTER (NEW)AND NR: CHARTER (INSUFFICIENT DATA) At the district level, open enrollment charters are not rated and are identified with the label Charter. At the school level, these schools can be rated Exemplary, Recognized, Acceptable, or Low-performing, or can be evaluated under the alternative education procedures if appropriate. The first year of operation for a charter school is a benchmark year and the school is Not Rated (NR). This is shown as NR: Charter (New). If a charter school had insufficient data to be evaluated for a rating, the rating label for the school will be NR: Charter (Insufficient Data).

(SPECIAL ANALYSIS USED) This special note is appended to ratings for districts and campuses where fewer than 30 students were tested on TAAS. Where available, up to six years of TAAS results were evaluated before finalizing an accountability rating.

ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION Campuses that applied and were identified as eligible to be evaluated under alternative education procedures receive an Alternative Education rating of either AE: Commended, AE: Acceptable; AE: Needs Peer Review; or AE: Not Rated. The Office of Accountability and Accreditation establishes appropriate evaluation criteria for each alternative education school and its accountability rating is based upon these alternative criteria.

NR: PK-K Campuses serving students in grades pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, or early education only are Not Rated (NR) for accountability purposes. This is shown as NR: PK-K.

Additional Acknowledgment

ACKNOWLEDGED These districts and campuses met the standards on an additional indicator. In 2000 the additional indicators are: participation and performance on college admissions tests, percent meeting the TAAS/TASP equivalency, percent completing the Recommended High School Program, campus Comparable Improvement on Reading, and campus Comparable Improvement on Mathematics. Acknowledgment is evaluated and awarded independently for each additional indicator.

DOES NOT QUALIFY These districts and campuses had performance results to evaluate but did not meet the standards on the additional indicator.

NOT ELIGIBLE Districts and campuses initially rated as Academically Unacceptable / Low-performing are not eligible for acknowledgment. Districts rated Suspended: Data Inquiry and Academically Unacceptable: SAI are not eligible for acknowledgment. Campuses rated Suspended: Data Inquiry are not eligible for acknowledgment.

NOT APPLICABLE Districts and campuses that do not have data on the additional indicator cannot be evaluated for acknowledgment. For example, an elementary school with no graduates will not have college admissions examinees.

ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION Campuses that applied for identification as an alternative school and requested evaluation using criteria other than those used in the standard evaluation are not awarded additional acknowledgment.

CHARTER AND NR: CHARTER (NEW)AND NR: CHARTER (INSUFFICIENT DATA) At the district level, open enrollment charters are not evaluated for acknowledgment and receive the label Charter. At the school level, these schools can receive acknowledgment and any of the possible designations shown above. The first year of operation for a charter school is considered to be a benchmark year and the school is Not Rated (NR). This is shown as NR: Charter (New). If a charter school had insufficient data to be evaluated for a rating, the acknowledgment label for the school will be NR: Charter (Insufficient Data).

Return to the Notification of 2000 Accountability Ratings Correspondence

2000 EXPLANATION OF RATINGS AND COMMENTS
Accountability Ratings
EXEMPLARY	These districts and campuses met the Exemplary level performance standards for all base indicators. Exemplary districts and campuses are entitled to excellence exemptions identified in state statute. All campuses in Exemplary districts must be rated Acceptable or higher.
RECOGNIZED	These districts and campuses met the Recognized level performance standards for all base indicators. All campuses in Recognized districts must be rated Acceptable or higher.
ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE / ACCEPTABLE	These districts and campuses exceeded the performance standards for Academically Unacceptable / Low-performing, but did not meet Exemplary or Recognized standards. Districts that met the standards for Exemplary or Recognized but (1) have one or more Low Performing campuses or (2) exceeded the threshold for under-reported school leavers, have been rated Academically Acceptable.
ACADEMICALLY UNACCEPTABLE / LOW PERFORMING	These districts and campuses did not meet the performance standards for an Academically Acceptable / Acceptable rating. State-level sanctions and interventions will be invoked for these districts and campuses. The Texas Education Agency will determine the level of sanction or intervention.
ACADEMICALLY UNACCEPTABLE: SAI	These districts have been designated as Academically Unacceptable due to a Special Accreditation Investigation. Special Accreditation Investigations may be conducted when excessive numbers of absences or exemptions of students eligible to be tested on state assessment instruments are determined; in response to complaints related to alleged violations of civil rights or other legal requirements; in response to compliance reviews of financial accounting practices and state and federal program requirements; when extraordinary numbers of students are placed in alternative education programs; and in response to allegations involving conflict between members of the board of trustees or between the board and the district administration.
SUSPENDED: DATA INQUIRY	These districts and campuses have their ratings Suspended due to serious errors in the reporting of PEIMS or TAAS data that affect one or more of the base indicators used for assigning accountability ratings. The errors are of such magnitude that the performance results are deemed to be unsuitable for evaluation for standard ratings purposes. The rating will be in effect until such time as an agency investigation determines otherwise.
CHARTER AND NR: CHARTER (NEW)AND NR: CHARTER (INSUFFICIENT DATA)	At the district level, open enrollment charters are not rated and are identified with the label Charter. At the school level, these schools can be rated Exemplary, Recognized, Acceptable, or Low-performing, or can be evaluated under the alternative education procedures if appropriate. The first year of operation for a charter school is a benchmark year and the school is Not Rated (NR). This is shown as NR: Charter (New). If a charter school had insufficient data to be evaluated for a rating, the rating label for the school will be NR: Charter (Insufficient Data).
(SPECIAL ANALYSIS USED)	This special note is appended to ratings for districts and campuses where fewer than 30 students were tested on TAAS. Where available, up to six years of TAAS results were evaluated before finalizing an accountability rating.
ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION	Campuses that applied and were identified as eligible to be evaluated under alternative education procedures receive an Alternative Education rating of either AE: Commended, AE: Acceptable; AE: Needs Peer Review; or AE: Not Rated. The Office of Accountability and Accreditation establishes appropriate evaluation criteria for each alternative education school and its accountability rating is based upon these alternative criteria.
NR: PK-K	Campuses serving students in grades pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, or early education only are Not Rated (NR) for accountability purposes. This is shown as NR: PK-K.
Additional Acknowledgment
ACKNOWLEDGED	These districts and campuses met the standards on an additional indicator. In 2000 the additional indicators are: participation and performance on college admissions tests, percent meeting the TAAS/TASP equivalency, percent completing the Recommended High School Program, campus Comparable Improvement on Reading, and campus Comparable Improvement on Mathematics. Acknowledgment is evaluated and awarded independently for each additional indicator.
DOES NOT QUALIFY	These districts and campuses had performance results to evaluate but did not meet the standards on the additional indicator.
NOT ELIGIBLE	Districts and campuses initially rated as Academically Unacceptable / Low-performing are not eligible for acknowledgment. Districts rated Suspended: Data Inquiry and Academically Unacceptable: SAI are not eligible for acknowledgment. Campuses rated Suspended: Data Inquiry are not eligible for acknowledgment.
NOT APPLICABLE	Districts and campuses that do not have data on the additional indicator cannot be evaluated for acknowledgment. For example, an elementary school with no graduates will not have college admissions examinees.
ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION	Campuses that applied for identification as an alternative school and requested evaluation using criteria other than those used in the standard evaluation are not awarded additional acknowledgment.
CHARTER AND NR: CHARTER (NEW)AND NR: CHARTER (INSUFFICIENT DATA)	At the district level, open enrollment charters are not evaluated for acknowledgment and receive the label Charter. At the school level, these schools can receive acknowledgment and any of the possible designations shown above. The first year of operation for a charter school is considered to be a benchmark year and the school is Not Rated (NR). This is shown as NR: Charter (New). If a charter school had insufficient data to be evaluated for a rating, the acknowledgment label for the school will be NR: Charter (Insufficient Data).